guide

Everything comes down to money: whether you have it, you don’t, you think of it as a means to an end, or an end in itself (hint: don’t do this). Throughout university, I saw money as the goal. Coming from a rural town where big money was a rarity, I was taught to pursue a stable life of financial security.

My first long-term experience abroad came when I moved to South Korea following graduation. For the first time, I had a regular income that allowed me to actually save money. After saving over $15,000 in a year, I was both hesitant in spending and completely unprepared (too disorganized to keep a strict budget). I found myself eating into my savings in Australia and New Zealand, and becoming saddened by the fact that I would come home with very little after working hard for that money for a year.

Today, I find myself saving to travel long term again. I’m not a pro-saver, but I manage to live frugally. That sadness of coming home with nothing turned into depression that I could have lived happily on the road for a couple more months if I’d been a little more practical. To that end, here is my guide for constructing and sticking to your own travel budget.

I’m lazy when it comes to planning. I pass it off as being laid-back, going-with-the-flow. But, honestly, I’ve had better experiences by doing just a little bit of research in advance. Through my time traveling, I’ve cultivated research methods that work for me with minimal effort. These may be decision-making tactics, the first sites I visit, or general tips I’ve picked up throughout my time abroad.

As it so happens, I’m planning two trip with very different goals for the coming year: one short trip and one longer backpacking adventure. Hopefully, this will be a series that follows my lazy planning techniques and also motivates me to try a little harder at being organized. Maybe I plan ahead more than you, maybe less–it all depends on personal preference and experience. Either way, let’s start at the beginning.

I’ve been trying to write more frequently for several weeks now and have made an effort to post here three times per week. Coming from the habit of dwelling on a topic for days before picking up my metaphorical pen, it’s certainly a change of pace. However, some strange things happen when you dedicate yourself more fully to something: you gain more confidence as you go. Who knew? After a while, that confidence helps you develop a bit more momentum, but getting to that point (and staying there) can take some serious self motivation. Here are a few things I like to keep in mind. They are probably pretty obvious, but we can all use a reminder once in a while.

I didn’t love South Korea when I first arrived. When I did learn to, it was a beautiful thing. More than a great place to teach English, it is an exciting place to live. Home to endless conveniences and opportunities, it is a small country (geographically) with a huge influence and unique culture.

My life in Korea began in Wonju, a city of almost 400,000, about an hour-and-a-half bus ride east of Seoul.

I recently played To the Moon, an indie adventure RPG. What does this have to do with language learning specifically? Very little.

But, not to get too much into the story, there is something relevant to it. The game is based on the idea that if we always felt the initial motivation that we had when we first came up with an idea, we would almost certainly achieve it. Motivation fades over time as the newness of an idea wears off.

For instance, imagine that one day you decided that you wanted to learn oil painting. On the day of the first lesson, you would be very enthusiastic about the idea. Over time this level of excitement would dwindle. You might never learn because the idea never really stuck. It takes work to change or learn something new. This is what really sucks motivation away. If you could alter your mind so that the same level of motivation on the first day was what you felt every day, no problem.

Unfortunately, you can’t do that (to my knowledge). However, you can make efforts to revive your motivation throughout the process.

If you’ve spent time in Ayutthaya (about an hour-and-a-half train ride north from Bangkok), you may know that the overnight train going north to Chiang Mai (and various stops along the way) doesn’t pass through until later in the evening. While this makes perfect sense for an overnight train, it means that you’ve got almost an entire day from the time you need to get out of the hostel until you head to the train station. Ayutthaya may not be a city that garners a week-long vacation for most travelers, but if you have the motivation, there are a lot of things you can cram into those 7-8 hours you’ve got on hand.

To many travelers, Alice Springs is a stopover point in Australia’s Red Centre. It is the gateway to Uluru-KataTjuta National Park, a rest stop from west-east or north-south. But, dig a little deeper and you’ll find plenty of reasons to dwell a few more days in this historic (and dusty) desert city.